Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the fatal pager attacks against the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in September, a spokesman for his office said.

“Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that he had given the green light to the pager operation in Lebanon,” his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP local time on Monday regarding the attacks.

Thousands of pagers exploded simultaneously in Beirut’s southern suburbs and other Hezbollah strongholds on September 17.

The Israeli military, which has been fighting Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war in October last year, initially refused to answer questions about the detonations.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident was the “biggest security breach” for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.

Charging…

The day after the pager explosion, walkie-talkies used by members of the militant group Hezbollah were detonated.

The pager and walkie-talkie attack killed a total of 39 people and injured more than 3,400.

Israeli media have reported that Netanyahu claimed responsibility for the pager attack during a recent cabinet meeting.

According to local media, Netanyahu told ministers that senior defense officials and political figures opposed detonating the pagers, but he went ahead with the operation.

Reuters said sources have told them that Hezbollah fighters use pagers as a low-tech means of communication to evade Israeli location tracking.

After the pager detonations, Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike and launched raids into southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by Australia.

Taiwan says it was not involved in pager explosion

Investigators in Taiwan said on Monday there was no evidence that Taiwanese individuals or companies were involved in the deadly pager attacks against Hezbollah.

“Our investigation has verified that no national citizens or companies were involved in the high-profile pager detonation incidents in Lebanon,” Taiwan prosecutors said in a statement.

Speculation has arisen about the origin of the pagers and walkie-talkies and how they were supplied to Hezbollah since the attacks.

The New York Times previously reported that Israel had inserted explosive material into a shipment of Taiwan’s Gold Apollo pagers, citing unnamed U.S. officials and others.

However, Gold Apollo has strongly denied producing the devices.

Investigators in Taiwan this week cleared the company, its president and its employees of any involvement, and the case was consequently closed.

“No concrete evidence of criminal activity has been uncovered in this case, nor has any specific individual been implicated in any criminal activity,” Taipei Shilin District Prosecutor’s Office said.

Prosecutors said they discovered that the AR-924 model pager had been designed, manufactured and shipped “outside of Taiwan” by the “multinational group” Frontier Group Entity.

Prosecutors added that Gold Apollo had authorized Frontier Group Entity to use its trademark under an agreement signed with a subsidiary of that company in June 2022.

Investigators did not say where Frontier Group Entity is based or identify its subsidiary.

“There are no records of import or export of model AR-924 pagers exported from Taiwan to other countries or regions,” prosecutors said.

Gold Apollo initially accused its Hungarian partner BAC Consulting KFT, whom the Taiwanese company had allowed to use its brand.

But a Hungarian government spokesman said BAC Consulting KFT was “a commercial intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary.”

Syrian state media says Israel strikes near Homs

Syrian state media reported an Israeli attack on Monday against a village near the city of Homs, a day after a deadly attack on a building in the Damascus area.

State news agency SANA said an “Israeli aggression” targeted the “surroundings of the Shinshar region south of Homs, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the attack targeted a warehouse of Hezbollah ammunition.

The British-based SOHR, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria, added that successive explosions had occurred at the warehouse without providing further details.

Meanwhile, SANA reported that the highway connecting Homs to the capital was temporarily cut off after the strike, which “targeted an aid collection point for displaced Lebanese.”

There was no immediate information on the victims of Monday’s attack.

According to Lebanese authorities, around 200,000 Lebanese have fled to neighboring Syria to escape Israeli bombing of the country.

On Sunday, SOHR reported that Israel attacked an apartment belonging to Hezbollah in a stronghold of pro-Iran groups south of Damascus, killing nine people, including a commander.

‘Progress’ in efforts to end war with Hezbollah

Israel’s new foreign minister said there has been “some progress” in efforts to end fighting with Hezbollah.

But a spokesman for the militant group said Monday that it had not received any official proposal and was prepared to fight a long war if necessary.

The Biden administration has been trying to negotiate a ceasefire for months, and there have been reports that US envoy Amos Hochstein could return to the region in the coming days.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said any deal would have to include enforcement mechanisms to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military infrastructure near the border.

“There is some progress on the issue, we are working with the Americans… the most important thing will not be the words but the application,” he said.

He added that Israel “will act militarily immediately” if any agreement is breached.

The UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war required that both Hezbollah and Israeli forces withdraw from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

Instead, it allowed UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army to patrol the area.

Israel said Hezbollah maintained a military presence up to the border, while Lebanon accused Israel of violating other terms of the resolution.

Lebanese officials oppose any change to the resolution.

ABC/wires